Sweet Vengeance
by darksunshine200
Summary: Why should he, a warrior, a prince, need assistance? He had already begged, pleaded, for that clown's help once before... Was fate so cruel she would hand him the same dish again? It was impossible to admit, but in his time of suffering, he needed someone to lean on. No Yaoi, just family and friendship. BxV
1. Chapter 1

Ah. The year had arrived. The long-awaited fated day.

The day when revenge would finally be exacted upon the Saiyans and their imperial line.

~!*!~

Finally, Bulma thought to herself with satisfaction, a chance for some relaxation. It had been so long since she had roused the gang to come over to Capsule Corp for a casual get-together, over a year now. Nothing fancy, just a fun barbecue, as was eagerly voted by Trunks when she suggested it. She had to agree. Now, as what little bit of food there was left was cleaned away, Bulma reclined on a patio chair with a sigh.

The day had been so nice. Reluctantly finished stuffing themselves, the little boys, Trunks and Goten, darted into the house to play video games, while the adults sat back to enjoy the outdoor breeze. The weather had been great too, thin strips of clouds stretching across the orange evening sky, a cool light breeze, birds concluding their daytime songs. It was pretty much paradise at the moment.

"This is wonderful, thank you, Bulma." Sitting on the lawn chair beside her, Bulma's (Earthly) friend, Arissa, smiled cheerily at her. Even for the relatively short time she had known the woman from work, Bulma had recognized her as the bubbly blonde type. She was always smiling and happy, her pretty face keeping up with her bright attitude. She was a good friend.

"It's my pleasure!" Bulma replied sincerely. "I'm glad I could finally have you over."

"Me too."

Both looked over when Son ChiChi pulled a chair up, smiling curiously. "Hello," she nodded to Arissa. "I never got a chance to talk to you earlier. I'm ChiChi."

"Arissa," she beamed.

"Nice to meet you!"

"You too!"

A conversation was somehow immediately struck, and after a while Bulma found herself being unconsciously pushed against the wall, metaphorically speaking. She sat there glancing between the two as they talked excitedly about homeschooling and organic diets. Not that she wasn't interested, she just seemed to have been pushed out of the picture for a moment. She didn't mind; occasionally she enjoyed simply pausing and taking in her surroundings.

Cutely unaware of her pleased staring, Gohan and Videl sat together, hands clasped together beneath the table. They were such a cute couple... Meanwhile, Yamcha, Krillin, and Goku sat at another table, intently focused on a game of cards, and judging by the cheers and gloating, Krillin was winning. Tien Shinhan and Chiaotsu hadn't come, not to anyone's real surprise, so there was only one hanging back and breathing in the sights and sounds of nature, that being Piccolo. She had invited Hercule and Buu but they had declined.

Something seemed off, though... Was she missing someone?

Oh wait. No, she wasn't miscounting, he just wasn't present. Figures.

Come to think of it, Bulma couldn't remember if she had seen Vegeta at all the entire party. It wasn't the most surprising thing in the world, but he typically showed up if she told/forced him to, which she had in this case. Even if he sulked in a corner as he usually did she could pick him out of the crowd, but she hadn't today. Where on earth was that Saiyan?

She blinked out of her thoughts when Goku approached, sighing with a grin. In the background, Krillin was boasting his victory blatantly to Yamcha, who was rolling his eyes with a small smirk.

"Both of 'em beat me by a landslide," Goku chuckled, not sounding the least bit disappointed. "I've never been very good at those kinds of games..."

"Really?" Bulma tilted her head bemusedly. "And I always thought you lost on purpose."

"Well...sometimes, if I'm playing with Goten."

Bulma chuckled. He could be so cute.

"Hey, by the way," Goku put his hands behind his head casually, looking around. "I haven't seen Vegeta around. Wher-"

"I don't know." Now she was frowning, arms crossed. "He never showed up. Probably inside training or something."

"But I thought he didn't mind parties like this." Goku tossed a glance at the house behind him.

"That's what I thought. I don't know why he would pass this up. His moods are about as predictable as summer storms...Hey, where are you going?"

Goku shrugged with a short wave as he headed toward the house. "Just seeing if he's inside. I'll check up on the two boys while I'm at it."

Bulma watched him go blankly, then a tiny smile grew on her lips. That Son. Always thinking about others.

"You in here?" Goku poked his head inside the Gravity Room, cringing at the sharp smell of cleaner and machinery. Bulma had mentioned something about it breaking and still being under repair, so he thought it was unlikely the Saiyan prince would be in there. Still, always good to check.

He wasn't. The wide-open space was empty, filled instead with the low hum of something mechanical. Next stop, then...maybe the kitchen?

As soon as he entered, upbeat music and screeches reached his ears and emanated from the living room. Trunks and Goten were oblivious to his arrival until he unwittingly passed the television on his way to the other side.

"Hi, Dad," Goten said without looking away from the screen. He furrowed his brow and handled the controller skillfully, tongue sticking out from concentration.

"Uh, hey." Goku paused, transfixed on the brightly flashing screen. They were playing some kind of car game, racing two super fancy vehicles through a city. Much of the time was spent ungracefully crashing into the lining buildings or other cars. "That's something alright."

"It's really cool," Trunks chimed in, taking his eyes off of the screen for a second to grin at Goku. "Once we finish this lap, you can try if you want."

"Er, no thanks." He had tried video games before, and they never really suited him. Not only because he could never figure out the controller, but he preferred hands-on games. Besides, he and cars had bad histories together.

"Suit yourself." Trunks shrugged, then cried out when his dark blue car was sent flying backwards. "Aw, darn it! I was so close!"

Yeah, Goku had seen that happen plenty of times in real life. Why see it again in a pretend game? He nonchalantly scooted out of the room.

Now, back to why he was there in the first place, other than checking on those two. He passed several open doors as he made his way down the darkening hallway and quickly scanned them with his eyes. No signs of life anywhere. He was nearing the end of the hall with no traces still.

Then he paused at the final door. It was closed. If he remembered right, it was the master bedroom. He wasn't necessarily about to assume both Bulma and Vegeta shared it, but there was no harm looking anyway.

First, he checked for a ki reading. He couldn't sense anything...no, wait. A vague reading and it seemed to be coming from the bedroom. Aha! Target in sight-er, so to speak.

He oh-so-gently turned the knob and oh-so-quietly pushed the door open an inch. No sounds from inside, so he eased it back a bit further and peeked through the crack. It was dark enough that his eyes took a few moments to adjust and he could hear the ceiling fan whirring. He opened the door a little bit more, enough so that he could see the large bed.

His eyebrows raised while his mouth formed a small 'o'. He had found his quarry, but it was slightly surprising all the same. Lying atop the smoothed covers and clearly passed out, Vegeta snored lightly with one hand limp on his chest and one leg dangling off the side of the bed. His Saiyan eyes mostly adjusted, Goku couldn't help but smile amusedly. He looked so starkly different lying there, all peaceful and helpless-looking, even though Goku knew the slightest noise would snap him to attention. It was almost kind of funny.

Bulma had made it clear she wanted him outside right away, but...Goku just couldn't. Not only because of how content and unusually non-threatening he looked, but because he knew if he were to wake him...it wouldn't end well for Goku or probably anyone else for that matter.

Instead, he silently closed the door and backed away. Nothing to do there. He would just have to apologize to Bulma for not completing his mission.

"He's _sleeping_?" Bulma blinked with disbelief.

Goku nodded, not seeing what the big deal was. Bulma just shook her head. Would that man never cease to surprise her? She had never seen him fall asleep so spontaneously.

And of course it so coincidentally had to be when she had told him he had to do something. No, no coincidence.

"Well, then, go wake him!" Bulma waved a hand dismissively at Goku. "Otherwise he'll be up at one in the morning."

Goku stared at her like she had sprouted two heads. "Are-are you crazy?" he stammered.

"Hm?"

"I'm not gonna wake him up-he'll kill me!"

"Please, you're Goku. You're invincible. Besides he can't be that dangerous half-asleep."

"No thanks!"

Meanwhile Arissa looked between the two like she was watching a tennis match. Finally, "Who are you talking about?"

"My husband." Bulma put her hands on her hips crossly.

"Uh..." Arissa lifted a hand to her mouth daintily, looking bewildered. "You're husband...? Is he so bad?"

"Worse."

"Oh..."

Then Bulma gave her head a slight shake and traded her annoyed expression for a strained smile. "I mean...we do tend to exaggerate. He's not a monster or...or anything. Just, er, grumpy."

"Oh..."

Bulma bit the corner of her lip. She was certainly giving her a bad first impression, but it was true. No denying that.

All of a sudden Goku went stiff as a board when his name was called out harshly. He turned slowly with a nervous grin to find Vegeta marching toward them with barely-controlled anger on his face. Bulma raised her brows and looked away. This couldn't end well...

"Kakarot," he snarled, causing said Saiyan to turn away with a light, innocent whistle. "Don't-"

"Oh!" Both Saiyans stopped when Arissa stood with her usual bright smile. She clasped her hands, suddenly looking eerily similar to Bulma's mom. "You must be Vegeta, Bulma's husband. It's nice to meet you! I'm Arissa."

"Sorry, I just...Bulma wanted to know where you were an-"

"Mind your own business!"

Arissa trailed off when she realized she was being fully ignored. Bulma stood as well and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it," she told her quietly. "He's always like that."

"I-I thought you were asleep!" Goku raised his hands up defensively. "All I did was crack open the door-"

"Just shut up, Kakarot." Obviously all of his anger hadn't depleted, but had calmed slightly. Thank goodness for that. Bulma really didn't want her human friend to witness a full-on Saiyan battle.

Then she whirled on her husband.

"You! What were doing in there when I asked you to come out with us?" she demanded, poking his chest with a finger accusingly. "I don't care if you suddenly want to take naps, but I specifically told you I wanted you out here. You haven't been outside in weeks."

He glared her down, looking like he wanted to verbally strangle her. But he said nothing. And the longer the glare-down lasted, the more she saw how strangely _tired _he looked. Nothing else seemed particularly out of the ordinary but his eyes seemed to lack a certain energy. Weird...

After several long seconds, he broke away and instead scowled into thin air, not focusing on anything or one. Wow, he actually gave in first? That almost never happened.

"Well..." She crossed her arms. "Are you hungry? We just put the food away, but if his highness desires food..."

"No." He turned on his heel and headed back to the house, leaving her behind with a raised brow. Fine then.

"Sorry if I...caused that." Goku stared at the ground like a shameful puppy, to which Bulma just smiled.

"No, no." She lifted her hands up to say, 'whatever.' "You're not to blame. He's just grumpy 'cause he's tired."

Well, no, he was like that all the time. But she was pretty sure Goku knew that.

Then a soft, "Um...he seems...interesting."

Bulma chuckled, nodding, while Arissa glanced at her with confusion. She sighed. "Yeah."

Interesting was to put it lightly. After this newest fiasco, she wondered if she would ever truly figure that man out. She doubted it.

**Please feel free to tell me what you think! It would be extremely appreciated! :3 Thanks!**

**(By the way, thought I should let you know-Arissa is a made up character by moi. Just someone I came up with on the spot, so probably don't expect her to make a comeback. ;) To...to be honest, I don't really know why's she there... She just is. Whether we like it or not. [Arissa: HIII! - Me: *I'm so sorry...*] )**


	2. Chapter 2

~!*!~

"Hm...feeling it already? I'm nowhere near Earth yet. How intriguing."

The woman gingerly caressed the sparkling crystal orb in her lap, a ghost of a smile on her thin cracked lips. At last. She would be able to witness it. The sweet taste of revenge...she could almost taste it.

After waiting almost a thousand years in her lonesome prison, she could watch the one responsible perish. Perish into the wind for causing her such pain. She would return it tenfold-no, a hundredfold! It was what they deserved, for causing such pain to her and her people. They needed vengeance. He who wronged them would pay for such indescribable treatment, killing off her people one at a time. For murdering her loved ones. They would pay, so dearly, they would pay... And she would be the one to deal the judgment in her ancestor's place. She was given that burden and she would gladly carry it.

Until he was dead at her feet. Only then would her curse be lifted, as well as his. Oh yes, she was lifting his curse. But it came at the highest price. His life.

The smile widened. Soon, soon! Her gnarled old hands trembled, almost see-through over the coldly glowing ball before her. So many centuries she had waited for the moment that was awaiting her.

She laughed, harsh and clear, alone.

~!*!~

Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth. Vegeta closed his eyes briefly, tiredly massaging his temple with two fingers. He couldn't figure it out, where this sudden headache had come from. Only yesterday he had felt completely fine. It didn't matter much to him, but it certainly was annoying. Not to mention embarrassing. he hadn't meant to fall asleep. He had simply taken a moment to try and soothe the throb in his head by sitting on the bed, and all of a sudden it was dark and the door was closing. A familiar energy had revealed by whom.

Curse that Kakarot...couldn't he ever take his prying nose out of other people's business? It was almost enough to make him sick.

And the more he thought about it, he realized he actually could be sick. His hands somehow made their way to his face as he breathed deeply, closing his eyes. After a whole day of it, he was entirely done with this faintly nauseating feeling. No time for that.

"You okay in there?"

His hands dropped at the light knock on the bathroom door. Add one more to the list of things that were currently annoying him. Still, he unhesitatingly swung open the door without warning, causing her to squeak and jump back to avoid being hit.

"Sheesh!" She crossed her arms with a raised eyebrow. "Warn me first!"

He brushed past her, much to her indignation, and promptly sat on the edge of the bed. It was strange; he felt so tired, yet...not. He doubted he would get much sleep tonight, for whatever stupid reason.

He didn't even look up when Bulma stood beside him expectantly. "You've been acting a little strange today. Is something the matter?"

Well, sure. But he wasn't about to admit it was because he had a little headache. So he shook his head.

"...But if something was, would you tell me?"

A pause. Then, "Would you quit pestering me?"

"Fine." She hmphed and marched around to her side of the bed. She settled in without another word, her back turned on him. He could live with that.

He did the same after giving the side of his head one last irritated rub. No, no relief tonight. It was more the thought of him being kept awake by such a trivial thing that was bothersome. Though the pain was pretty bad too.

He grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. It was ridiculous. No chance of him being held back from anything, even if that thing was mere sleep. And by some miracle, after waiting exhaustedly for hours, he succumbed to a light slumber.

But of course even that couldn't be without some kind of nightmare. Why would it?

~!*!~

Bulma's eyes cracked open sluggishly. Surely it couldn't be time to wake up already, she was certain she would have heard the alarm. It was still dark anyhow. So what could have possibly woken her?

She scowled half-heartedly as she felt the bed shake, undoubtedly from her 'other half'. That was probably what had startled her awake, the rocking. She didn't bother turning, though at that point she was ready to smack him. He never tossed and turned at night, which she deduced meant he was awake. But why? Was something wrong? Perhaps he had felt it too, the unsettlement in the air. She wanted to figure out what it meant, but her tiredly aching head prohibited it. Hopefully the problem wasn't immediate-she had barely slept the last few nights thanks to minor stress from work.

So she turned, a tiny bit huffily, onto her side and closed her eyes. A few seconds later they opened again. Perfect. All of a sudden her brain felt the need to turn on, focusing on the idea of a threat. No, nothing was going to happen. She just needed to get that notion out of her mind so she could rest. Except that was easier said than done.

"Ugh...stop moving," she hissed, once again closing her eyes tightly. "You're shaking the bed."

She knit her brows when he didn't answer, as well as not stopping. Maybe he really was asleep? That would be unusual for him to be turning so much. After a moment, she turned fully around to face him.

Based on the silhouette he was on his side, facing away from her, but he looked strangely tense. To raise her concerns, his breathing seemed off. Irregular, almost like he was out of breath. And he kept shifting like he couldn't get comfortable, which was the shaking she had endured.

"Psst!" She almost attempted to wake him by touch, but decided against it. No telling how his reflexes would react. "Hey, wake up. _Vegeta._"

He still didn't wake up, which was highly concerning. He would wake up at the smallest scratch of a mouse's claws. And this certainly didn't seem like deep sleep either. Something was definitely wrong.

As much as she hated putting her life on the line, she hesitantly reached out to shake him out of it, but stopped when he restlessly rolled over so he was facing her. Her eyes somewhat adjusted, she was surprised to see a look of pain on his sleeping face. Only she couldn't tell if it was physical or from whatever kind of nightmare he was clearly having.

Then he gave a quiet, short moan and her suspicions were put to rest. The way he was partly doubled over, breathing a little quickly, she could tell he was actually hurting. But why? Where? How? She felt the immediate need to help but she couldn't get over her fear of his reflexive reaction. One had to think about these things when they were by a Saiyan, especially him.

"Wake up!" she whispered loudly, urgently. "Can you hear me? Snap out of it!"

Finally she pushed aside her worries and shook his shoulder. "Get up!"

She let out a small screech when he jerked awake, but it was unnecessary. He immediately settled down on his back, panting lightly and staring at the ceiling. Now that she had accomplished that much...

"Are you okay?" She sat up halfway, looking at him with puzzled concern. "You were starting to worry me there for a moment."

"I'm fine," he snapped back, causing her to close her lips. Then she scowled.

"No, you're obviously not," came the retort. "Don't bother trying to hide it, you looked like you were in serious pain. Now shut up and tell me what's wrong." She paused for a second. "And don't be a smart aleck about what I just said."

He shot her an annoyed look, at which she returned with an impatient scowl. She was not about to put up with his attitude at two in the morning.

"I told you," he muttered, "I'm fine."

At that, her glare started to melt. That was it? He didn't sound very convincing and seemed to lack his usual abrasiveness. Her shoulders relaxed.

"And I told you, no you're not." She sat up fully, pulling her blanket-clad legs up to her chest. "Just tell me."

His own scowl deepened and he looked away, not answering. At least he seemed to have calmed, his breathing normal again. She wouldn't lie, he had scared her with that little episode. He had appeared so helplessly hurt, like...like a child with an injury. They didn't quite know what to do except curl up and cry. Maybe it had been because he was asleep. He didn't have his usual tough-guy barricade up to hide his pain and emotions. That was why it had clenched her heart so.

Only now, he was back to being normal, stubborn, irritable Vegeta. And he still wasn't answering her.

"So..." She hoped he could see the baffled, miffed expression she wore. "You're just not going to let anyone help you. You'll just sit back and suffer for no reason. You really do amaze me."

"...Shut up," he grumbled, still not meeting her eye.

"I'm serious. It's confounding, really. You have so many opportunities to let me and everyone else help you when you really need it, and you just toss us away like garbage. It's so stupid."

"I didn't ask for a lecture."

"I'm giving you one anyway! Will you for once just _tell _me what's wrong? You obviously need help and I'm right here waiting for you to just tell me."

"I don't need your help!"

"Really? You looked pretty bad there for a minute. I could've sworn..."

"Just mind your own business, would you? I'm not asking for your-or anyone else's-help! I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself without a pesky mother hen wanting to hover over me."

"Pesky...you listen! I don't care if you're a Saiyan, you can't handle everything that comes your way on your own. For someone as intelligent as you say you are, you should have figured that out! The way you work now is just idiotic!"

"What would you possibly know, woman? I'm a warrior, we don't look to others for help. Certainly not from you!"

"You're such a selfish jerk! How much have I done for you? This is how you repay me?"

"What does that even have to do-?!"

"Just because! You just...you just need to suck it up and let me help you this once! I'm not asking you to do it all the time, just when you really need it, like now!"

Both finally stopped, by then nearly at each other's throats, literally. Taking advantage of the pause, Bulma sat back against the headboard and crossed her arms. A heavy sigh. Even she couldn't quite understand how she had gotten so worked up. She blamed it on the fact that it wasn't even three a.m.

"...Well?" She shrugged to say 'what're you gonna do?' "Are you just going suffer by yourself like you always do? Doesn't seem the smart thing to do. But hey. What do I know? I'm just a pest."

He didn't move, not facing her. Honestly she wasn't sure what his response would be to that. It was hard to tell with him. She waited in the tense silence for a minute, letting him and herself mull over everything.

Maybe she had been overreacting, a lot. But it was all true. She didn't at all expect him to change, but...she supposed something about the way he had looked earlier had stirred it inside her. He needed help, so why couldn't he just let it go and ask? He didn't even have to ask, just-grudgingly of course-concede. No words were needed.

Just then she was drawn out of her thoughts by a shift in the corner of her eye. She turned with a start.

"Trunks?" She frowned. "What are you doing out of bed?"

The nine-year-old stopped as he had been trying to leave without being noticed. He scratched the back of his head and didn't look at her.

"I was just...I heard yelling and I wasn't sure if..." he trailed off awkwardly. Bulma couldn't stop the small, sad smile.

"C'mere." She gestured for him to get onto the bed next to her. He brightened a bit and started to obey. Then he quickly jumped out of the way when his father suddenly brushed past him and out the door.

"Hey!" Bulma sat up straight again, gazing out the now-empty doorway with amazed anger. She shook her head. "That..."

She looked over when Trunks slowly climbed into her bed, staring out the door with mild confusion. It was then that she thought of how he must feel, what with his parents screaming at each other in the middle of the night. She would be truthful, it wasn't the first time. But it was the first that he had witnessed it so far as she knew, as she was sure he had from the door. No doubt the whole episode. With a sigh, she put an arm around him as he sat next to her.

"Sorry we woke you, Trunks," she said softly. He simply shrugged, which made her bite her lip. Who knew, maybe by then he thought it was normal. Normal for his mother and father to be fighting constantly. A sad truth.

"Where d'you think Dad's going?" Trunks asked innocently enough. He did have bit of a tone though.

Bulma shrugged one shoulder with a twist of her lips. "Who knows?"

It didn't matter. He would come back eventually. He always did.

~!*!~

**There ya go. More torture known as another chapter. ;) Ah, but seriously... Anyhoozle, please review what you think! It's very much appreciated! ^_^'**

**Thanks!**


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